August 30, 1877] 



NA TURE 



373 



enamel, and the bones of their natural fresh colour. Others, on 

 tlie contrary, were of a darkish, brown ; even the enamel was of 

 a greenish tinge. Owing to the induration of their earthy 

 envelope, or their incrustation by stalagmite, few were extracted 

 entire. Two skulls were buried in the stalagmite as in a mould, 

 and were brought away in that state. In no case were the 

 remains broken or gnawed by the jaws of carnivores. The long 

 bones were generally found entire ; and when observed broken, 

 it was only mechanically from pressure. The bones were highly 

 mineralised, heavy, brittle, and easy of fracture ; and, when 

 struck, rang like metallic substances." 



The portions of the stalagmitic floor which Mr. MacEnery 

 had failed to break up, chiefly adjacent to the walls and other 

 confines of the Bear's Den, furnished the Committee with two 

 good examples of the remarkable cracks of which he speaks. 

 One of these was in the noith-east corner, where a crack, about 

 half-an-inch wide, extended from wall to wall, a distance of 

 about twelve feet, passing quite through the stalagmite, which 

 was nowhere less than two feet thick, but without faultmg it in 

 the slightest degree, or, so far as could be observed, in any way 

 affecting the underlying deposit. Mr. MacEnery, however, states, 

 though somewhat obscurely, that in some instances a derange- 

 ment had taken place in the materials covered by the broken 

 stalagmite. The second existing crack varies from '25 to 2'5 

 inches wide, and passes completely through the boss of stalag- 

 mite already mentioned, but without faulting it. No such cracks 

 appear to be mentioned by Mr. MacEnery as occurring else- 

 where, nor have the Committee met with anything of the kind 

 in any other branch of the cavern. 



The ground broken by Mr. MacEnery extended to a depth of 

 from eight to twenty inches over almost the entire area of the 

 Bear's Dtn. As was his wont, he left the excavated materials 

 almost where he found them, and there were amongst them a 

 large number of specimens which had been overlooked or 

 neglected, including I tooth of horse, I of fox, 2 teeth of deer, 

 4 of hyena, 4 of mammoth, upwards of 200 of bear, very 

 numerous bones, especially of the vertebral column and feet, a 

 crowd of fragments of bone, numerous balls of coprolite, and a 

 few bits of coarse pottery. 



It cannot be doubted that such cracks as Mr. MacEnery 

 flescribes must be a prob.able source of uncertainty respecting 

 the position and relative chronology of some of the objects found 

 in the underlying deposit, especially where this deposit shared 

 in the disturbance. 



In accordance with Mr. MacEnery's description and the fore- 

 going considerations, the deposit the Committee had to excavate 

 was the breccia, with a small amount of cave-earth lying on it 

 heie and there. 



The excavation in the Bear's Den w.^s limited, as in other 

 branches of the cavern, to a depth of four feet below the bottom 

 of the stalagmite, and the limestone floor was nowhere reached. 



The "finds" in the Den were 3l5 in number, of which 12 

 were in the stalagmite ; loi in the first or uppermost foot-level, 

 47 in the second, 32 in the third, 23 in the fourth, or lowest, 

 and I in a small recess. Omitting those found in the stalagmite 

 and the recess, 32 of the "finds" were in cave-earth, 65 in a 

 mixture of cave-earth and breccia, and 96 in the breccia ; 

 whilst the matrix of the remaining 10 must be regarded as 

 uncertain. The colour and other characters of the specimens, 

 however, indicate with tolerable certainty to what beds and eras 

 they belong. 



Besides a considerable number of bones and pieces of bone 

 representing every part of the skeleton, the specimens included 

 upwards of 620 teeth of bear, 24 of hytena, 10 of horse, 7 of 

 fox, 5 of mammoth, 4 of lion, and i of wolf (!), or of dog (?). 

 There were also 20 " finds" of coprolite and II flints. 



Amongst the bones the skull of a bear may be mentioned, 

 which, to re-quote the language of Mr. MacEnery, was " buried 

 in the stalagmite as in a mould, and was brought away in that 

 state." Many of the specimens are of considerable interest, but 

 perhaps none of them differ so much from those mentioned in 

 previous Reports as to require detailed description. 



None of the flints found in the Bear's Den are of so much 

 interest as many of those exhumed in other branches of the 

 cavern, and described in previous Reports. 



A pillar of stalagmite was met with, in November, 1876, 

 under the following peculiar circumstances : — It measured about 

 fifty-one inches in basal circumference, and three feet in height. 

 The base was of nondescript outline, but everywhere above the 

 pillar was rudely elliptical in horizontal section, and it raea ed 

 thirty inches in girth at the height of one foot, where it 



least. When found, however, it was in two parts, having been 

 divided along an almost horizontal plane, where it was thinnest. 

 Each segment stood perfectly erect, but not one on the other ; 

 for though the bottom of the upper segment was on precisely 

 the same level as the top of the lower, the upper portion had 

 been moved westward to the extent of fifteen inches horizontally, 

 and stood there on the breccia. It cannot be doubted that when 

 the dislocation occurred the pUIar had reached its full height, 

 and the breccia had accumulated round it to the height of one 

 foot ; that is, it had reached the level of the plane of fracture. 

 It is difScult to see how, by any possibility, the deposit could at 

 that time have reached a greater height ; and difficult also to under- 

 stand how anything other than human hands could have shifted 

 the upper segment and placed it so as to have preserved its erect 

 position. On the other hand, it is just as difficult to see what 

 motive man could have had for such a work. The whole, when 

 found, was completely buried in the breccia, and the top of the 

 upper segment was about a foot below the bottom of a thick 

 remnant of the stalagmitic floor, which was intact and not 

 cracked. 



Rats, undoubtedly attracted by the candle grease dropped by 

 the workmen, continue to present themselves wherever the work 

 is in progress, irrespective of the distance from daylight. 



7hc Tortuous Gallery. — As soon as the work in the Bear's 

 Den was completed, the exploration of a narrow passage opening 

 out of its southern end, and termed " The Tortuous Cillery," 

 was begun. Its height varies from 15 to 6 feet, and its width 

 from I '5 to 4'S feet. It proceeds in a southerly direction for 

 about 23 feet, and then turns sharply towards the east. Ground 

 had been broken, here and there, by the earlier explorers up to 

 1 1 feet from the Bear's Den. Everywhere farther in there was 

 a continuous unbroken floor of stalagmite from i'5 to 3'5 feet 

 below the limestone roof. The underlying deposit was exclu- 

 sively the breccia, or, so far as is known, the oldest the cavern 

 contains. Its upper surface formed a continuous declivity, at a 

 mean gradient of i in 2 '5. 



The " finds " met with in the Tortuous Gallery up to the end 

 of August, 1S77, were but fourteen in number, and the objects 

 they contained were of but little importance. Six of them were 

 in the first or uppermost foot-level — all near the entrance ; two 

 in the third ; and six in the fourth — all at some distance from 

 the entrance. They included, besides bones and bone chips, 

 fourteen teeth of bear — some of them being in portions of jaws — 

 and one tooth of horse. The latter was lound on the surface, 

 near the Bear's Den, with three bits of coarse, friable, black 

 pottery. 



On reviewing the work of the last'eleven months, the super- 

 intendents cannot but express disappointment at not having found 

 the very large number of choice specimens which Mr. MacEnery's 

 glowing description had led them to expect in the Bear's Den. 

 Nevertheless, the discoveries they have made not only justify his 

 description, but show that in that branch of the cavern the- 

 osseous remains were almost entirely confined to the uppermost 

 foot of the breccia, and mainly to its actual surface. So long as 

 tlie lower levels remained untouched the belief that they were 

 equally rich would naturally have prevailed ; and it cannot be 

 doubted that in disposing of this belief satisfactory work has 

 been done. 



No trace of Machairodes latideus has been met with smce the 

 Glasgow meeting. 



Fiflh Report of the Committee for Assisting in the Exploration 

 of the Victoria Cave, drawn up by R. H. Tiddeman, secretary. — 

 The work has been carried on almost continuously throughout 

 the year until July 14, when the low state of the exploration 

 fund rendered it advisable to give up working for the present. 

 Prof. Busk has reported on the bones submitted to him. Out 

 of iSl determined bones and teeth he reports of ox 46, deer 14, 

 sheep or goat 16, hare 3-4, fox 5, bear 41, wolf 4, hycena 30, 

 rhinoceros 11, elephant 3, badger 7. 



Of the ox one is Bos primigenius, the other probably Bos 

 longifrons. Of the bears some are not unlike Vrsus spelceus ; 

 others are undoubtedly grisly bear. The hycenas are, as usual, 

 individuals of various ages. Rhinoceros is represented by at 

 least eleven well-marked specimens, all of which are clearly 

 referable to R. hptorliinus. 



Three or four fragments of elephants' teeth occur. Fourteen 

 specimens of deer belong to red deer, but there is no clear 

 indication of reindeer. 



A small ruminant, probably goat, occurs ; some of the bones 

 appear to be rather recent. Badger, fox, a .small wolf, tare, 



